Sulphur & Lightning Chapter 11: 010 - When Two Elephants Fight

Read chapter 11 of Sulphur & Lightning by anaugustauthor on NovelPedia.

Yachit was up as early as she saw as appropriate the next morning as she waited outside the private quarters of their master. To the young Troll’s surprise, her arrival had been anticipated by the new squad leader, and he gave a terse but friendly greeting as they waited before his chamber doors. It wasn’t long after that that they were ushered in and performed the customary greetings. “I’m led to believe that you failed.” Sedate in his manners, the third young master of the Dari clan (one of the nine great clans of the Lion) was the perfect embodiment of a scion of the celebrated Jan Zaki. Despite his young age of 14, he had already taken up many clan matters with determination and poise. It was such affairs that cluttered his desk and barely allowed him to look up as he addressed his two servants. Lacking words, the pair could merely nod in agreement. “That’s disappointing,” he said absentmindedly, making a note of something on the parchment next to him and ticking something else in a separate document. “We would have been able to apprehend him if we had full information, sir.” “It’s my fault now, is it?” Busa was thoroughly unimpressed by the accusation and instead continued with his affairs. “Not at all, master.” Julnan felt the need to interfere, glaring at his teammate before continuing. “It’s just that the strange abilities of the Lycans made our reactions rather sluggish… two of ours have been seriously wounded.” The young master was far more receptive to his younger servant’s tact and inquired about the conditions of the two. “Iya’s condition has stabilised; the claws of the osu were quite… tricky to deal with. They left dangerous shrapnel inside the wound, so it was far more serious than we originally supposed. That, in addition to him staying in the fight even after receiving that blow… if not for him, Atu might be dead now.” “Atu’s condition is far more serious,” he said gravely, “he crushed her hands thoroughly. It’ll take months for her to heal at least, and even then –” “She’ll be useless.” In the art of sorcery, one's hands were only secondary to one's faculties of language. It helped the caster to more accurately entwine the “threads” of mana, especially with higher-level spells. This was one of the reasons sorcerers were also called spell weavers. A good comparison would be riding a bicycle. Using your feet to pedal was obviously the most important thing, but without steady hands to steer, you were liable to crash. Of course, skilled cyclists could manoeuvre almost unaffected even without hands, but the need became more obvious the more complicated or trying the terrain was. It was exactly this way with crafting spells. Someone who had suffered such severe damage to her hands would never achieve her full potential, be it in spellcraft proper, array formations or potion making. “I wouldn’t go that far, master,” Julnan said firmly but respectfully, “her talent in healing has been indispensable thus far and training someone else would be… tricky.” “You’re willing to put your life in shaky hands?” Busa’s question was asked with a rather amused smirk. “Atu’s nothing if she’s not trustworthy, master.” “Fair enough,” he said with a shrug, not intent on pursuing the matter apparently. “I do need your full report, though.” Julnan said that he had already prepared it and placed it before the already swamped desk of his master tersely. The youth observed it swiftly and considered the contents for a while. “The power of a Lycan is truly mysterious,” he said, “I’ve read accounts, but being so close to it is quite exciting… I imagine it wasn’t exactly pleasant for you guys, though.” Busa was generally as strict as a line but let his cavalier attitude slip in private with his servants. “I can’t say it was, young master.” “What do you think of inviting him over?” The question shocked even the balanced Julnan, and he was lost for words. “What do you mean, master?” “I’m curious to test the limits of his abilities,” he answered